On July 8, 2014, HaMoked sent an
urgent letter to the Minister of Defence, the Attorney General and the IDF Commander in the West Bank Area, demanding not to resume the punitive house demolition policy, a policy which was discontinued by Israel in 2005. The letter was sent following Israel's intent, which has been meanwhile realized, to exercise the power set forth in regulation 119 of the Mandate-era Defense (Emergency) Regulations – according to which a house may be demolished based solely on suspected commitment of an offense – in response to the killing of the three abducted Israelis.
On August 19, 2014, a
response was received from the State Attorney's Office, which stated that "The security establishment is well aware of the ramifications of the exercise of the power granted under Regulation 119 to demolish the homes of terrorists, and therefore said power is exercised very prudently." The State Attorney's Office emphasizes that according to the security establishment, the two terror attacks, as a result of which it has recently been decided to exercise the demolition power, are "severely extreme" and adds that "any other case will be examined according to its specific circumstances."
The response of the State Attorney's Office disregards the general arguments which were raised by HaMoked, and does not explain how the punitive house demolition policy reconciles with the provisions of international law, with Israel's obligations under the law of occupation and with universal moral principles.
